This Damned Thirst for Survival
chapter-62

Zhang Cheng spoke incoherently, but Jiang Luo understood what he meant.

As Zhang Cheng looks at Zhang Feng in the upside-down position, the baby ghost is also looking down in the same position, from between Zhang Feng’s legs and face to face with Zhang Cheng. Between Zhang Feng’s legs, it came face to face with Zhang Cheng.

Jiang Luo knocked Zhang Cheng unconscious and looked up sharply, ” Zhang Cheng is unconscious! Someone come with me and take him to the infirmary.”

Lu Youyi ran over to Zhang Cheng and helped him out, “I’ll do it.”

The dead ghost, who had been indifferent, frowned and came over to pick up Zhang Cheng and put him on his back.

The others were stopped by the staff and the four of them walked quickly to the infirmary. After placing Zhang Cheng on the bed, they took the opportunity to meet with the general director.

The chief director shook their hands politely, and when he saw the dead man, he hesitated: “Is this one too?”

Jiang Luo nods, not meaning to say anything more. The director-in-chief wisely asked no more questions, but pulled up the video of the ghost game.

There are three angles to the video, and they watch it with full attention. The rear view is the clearest, with a flash of darkness around Zhang Feng’s feet.

The shadow is so unobtrusive that it even looks like a shadow from the filming of a machine slide. The director slowed down the video and watched it back and forth several times, but did not see a baby under Zhang Feng’s feet.

The chief director was tingling in his heart and couldn’t help but say, “Did Zhang Cheng make a mistake?”

“Director, you better hope he’s right,” Lu Youyi says with a straight face, “something that can be found is much better than something that is unknown.”

The chief director, a fat man, couldn’t help but wipe the sweat from his forehead after hearing him say this, “The master is right.”

Jiang Luo watched the video with a frown on his face. For some reason, he felt that there was something out of place in the video, but he couldn’t tell what was out of place.

Ye Xun went through Zhang Feng’s profile and was surprised, “One of the dead trainers was with the same company as Zhang Feng?”

“That’s right, the trainee in your bed, his name is Li Zhen,” the chief director said, “Li Zhen and Zhang Feng were a duo when they arrived, but after the rating stage, Li Zhen was B and Zhang Feng was C. When they were in the training room, Li Zhen got closer and closer to the other two trainee companies. During the training sessions, Li Zhen became closer and closer to two other trainers from the company, namely Chen Lezhi and Lin Xiao, who also died.”

“The four of them are also very close because of Li Zhen, and they often have dinner together.”

Ye Xun thought for a moment, “No wonder. No wonder Zhang Feng is so hostile towards me, saying that I’m taking someone else’s place …… but I’ve heard that Zhang Feng and Li Zhen have had friction.”

The trainees were in a closed recording studio, and most of the things that happened could not escape the ears of the programme team. The chief director says skillfully, “It’s just a few little things that come and go, either because Li Zhen is getting more and more popular and he’s getting worse and worse, or because Li Zhen doesn’t want to talk to Zhang Feng anymore, but there’s no other reason.”

Jiang Luo listened with two minds and was a bit distracted when he watched the video, “Didn’t you guys ever suspect that Zhang Feng had something to do with the three dead trainees?”

“Of course we suspected it,” the chief director said bitterly, “but Zhang Feng was either in the training room or sleeping in the dormitory when the practitioner died, and he had an alibi.”

After that, he hesitated, “Speaking of Zhang Feng, I remember one more thing. We put down all the deaths of the trainees and told them that we were withdrawing from the competition. The others didn’t suspect anything, but Zhang Feng’s face was so ugly that he took the day off from work kept wrapping himself up in a blanket and had a high fever at night …… We guessed he was upset because Li Zhen was also gone and was having a hard time.”

Is it really just apprehension because a fellow company mate has left the show without a word?

Jiang Luo thinks it can’t be that simple.

Perhaps Zhang Feng knew that Li Zhen was dead when he was notified of the “trainee withdrawal”.

He was afraid, of the three Li Zhen’s deaths, or of the truth of Li Zhen’s death?

Or was he afraid that “death” would come to him?

Jiang Luo looked back, but remembered that in addition to the three trainees, another person behind the scenes had also died.

The dead staff member was an ordinary looking woman, neither intending to debut nor having an enviable audience, and usually working with such a low presence that if not for this incident, the director would not have been able to call her by name, and she had nothing in common with the three trainees.

There is another thunderclap outside, the computer network is jammed and the screen is frozen for a moment as Zhang Feng lowers his head.

“This day,” the director sighed and whispered, “is so varied.”

Jiang Luo Yu Guang glanced across the computer screen, “Yeah, it’s raining when it says it’s raining ……” he slowly stopped his voice.

Ye Xun asked, “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Luo looked down at his computer, ” Is Zhang Feng …… no shadow?”

Ye Xun froze and looked down.

The shadows indoors are not as pronounced as in the outdoor sunlight, but they’re not quite there either.

Ye Xun looked around Zhang Feng inch by inch and nodded, “He has no shadow.”

Jiang Luo said at once: “Director, bring us the video of Li Zhen before he died.”

The director hurriedly went to call the video for them.

The video is the latest video of the three Li Zhen men before they died, and in it, upon closer inspection, you can see that all three of them are also without shadows.

The director could hardly believe it, he was living in ordinary society after all, and looked back and forth several times before he slumped in his chair and said, “It’s really haunted ……”

“It has to do with Zhang Feng,” said Jiang Luo, who was in a better mood because he had a clue: “From him, it will be a breakthrough.”

After watching the video, several people said goodbye to the director.

It was raining loudly outside and it was as cloudy as six or seven o’clock at night. But at least there is some light, and Jiang Luo walks quickly towards the dormitory building, remembering the monsters that only appear in the dark.

The umbrella almost blew away in the wind, and Jiang Luo’s shoes were soaked all the way down to the dormitory building. He put away his umbrella, damp with water droplets, and a human shape soaked through the outer wall on the ground floor.

Like which one got wet and hit the wall.

Lu Youyi asked, “Jiang Luo, what do we do now?”

Jiang Luo withdrew his eyes, “Zhang Cheng only said that there was a ghost around him and he reacted so emotionally, Zhang Feng definitely knows something, but he just doesn’t want to say it. Let’s try to provoke him a little.”

Without delay, the four of them arrived at Zhang Feng’s dormitory.

Zhang Feng, however, was not in the hostel.

Jiang Luo hid on the balcony and called the director, who said incredulously, “That can’t be, someone from our director’s team saw him enter the dormitory. Wait, I’ll check the CCTV.”

Five minutes later the director called back, “He went into the dormitory, grabbed something and rushed out again, and now he doesn’t know where he’s gone.”

Jiang Luo contemplates.

A voice suddenly rang out on the other end of the line, “Director, who are you talking to on the phone?”

With a magnetic voice and a hint of teasing, it is Qin Fan.

The director said “Oh no, I almost forgot about this one, he said smilingly, “Teacher Qin, I was too busy with the sudden accident just now, I didn’t scare you, right?”

Qin Fan was just asking a casual question, not intending to pry into people’s privacy, he smiled and sat next to the director, “I’ve always been very timid, and I don’t say, it seemed to really scare me, I was just wondering if there was a real ghost in that hall.”

After saying that, he thought for a moment and said languidly, “It’s still a shock.”

The director was also startled, he had been getting hairs on his back ever since he knew there was a real ghost here, and always felt that something was staring at him in the dark. Pushing himself and others, he said worriedly, “Does Mr. Qin feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

The sound of their conversation reached Jiang Luo’s ears. Jiang Luo leans against the side of his dormitory bed, eyes closed, listening quietly.

After chatting with Qin Fan for a few minutes, the director stepped aside alone and whispered to Jiang Luo, “Master, Mr. Qin is now frightened with a slight fever, I am afraid that …… something dirty has haunted Mr. Qin, can you come and take a look at it?”

He added, “It’s raining so much today that we’ve arranged a room for Mr. Qin, so if the master can come, he doesn’t have to go back. There is a vacant room right next door to Teacher Qin, and the regulations are better than the practice dormitory.”

Jiang Luo did not say anything and waited patiently.

The director cautiously tried, “Master, I’ll raise your money here?”

Jiang Luo lifted his eyes and smiled, “I’ll make the trip then.”

Jiang Luo’s clothes were already half wet when he arrived at Qin Fan’s door, having come and gone in the wind and rain. Qin Fan opened the door for him with a listless and frail look, “Please come in.”

Jiang Luo walks in nonchalantly, the wet soles of his shoes dirtying the clean floor.

Qin Fan didn’t care and good-naturedly held his slippers out to him, “You’re soaking wet, why don’t you take a shower first?”

Jiang Luo was the only one who could watch him with equanimity as such a big star went about his business. He put on his slippers, the wet clothes were really uncomfortable on his body, and the words he wanted to refuse passed through his mouth, “That would be a problem.”

Qin Fan found him a suit and Jiang Luo walked into the bathroom.

Given that it is not his own place, Jiang Luo simply takes a hot shower and is washed and dressed five minutes later. The clothes were in Qin Fan’s size and still bore the tags of new clothes that had not been worn.

He rolled his sleeves upwards and stepped out in a hot haze of wet hair.

Qin Fan poured him a cup of coffee and sat down on the sofa to wait for him, very approachable, “I heard about you from the director, Maestro,” he stifled a smile, finding the title amusing, “how do you plan to cure me?”

“Simple,” Jiang Luo didn’t touch his coffee and raised an eyebrow at him, “Got a beer?”

Qin Fan brought him a cold beer, Jiang Luo took a sip and leaned back comfortably on the sofa, “Teacher Qin, you have to give me a white porcelain bowl and a cigarette.”

These were good finds and were quickly laid out on the table.

Jiang Luo lit the talisman paper and threw it into the bowl, taking the water and pouring it in after the paper had burned to ashes.

The clear water became cloudy and Jiang Luo lit his cigarette and took a leisurely puff inside his lips, his wet hair still dripping down. He glanced sideways at Qin Fan and apologised, “Mr Qin, sorry, we don’t have sandalwood now, we’ll have to use cigarettes instead.”

With those words, he shook the ashes in the bowl and, before Qin Qin could react, stirred the water with his cigarette.

“Drink this bowl and Mr. Qin will be fine,” Jiang Luo laughed as he took the soaked cigarette out and set it aside, “and you won’t have nightmares at night, you’ll sleep well as usual.”

Qin Fan looked at the bowl of water and said, in a word, “Do you really want to drink it like that?”

Jiang Luo said, “Didn’t you say you were frightened?”

Qin Fan sighed, bowed his head and drank the bowl of charm water into his stomach.

Jiang Luo stared at him intently, and Qin Fan, his throat rolling, surprisingly finished his drink in one gulp.

The talismanic water inside is not an amulet but a suppressing talisman, a first-class Fu Lu written by Jiang Luo who is getting better and better.

Drinking this bowl of suppression charm is much more useful than sticking it on the outside. If Qin Fan is a puppet of an evil spirit, this bowl will cut off the evil spirit’s control. If he is a puppet of an evil spirit, it will be even worse. If the evil spirit drinks the suppression charm, he will be seriously injured at the very least.

But Qin Fan just put the bowl down with a bitter face and said to Jiang Luo, laughing and crying, “This tastes really weird.

Without changing a bit, he said naturally, “But don’t say that, maybe it’s a psychological effect, I really feel much more relaxed and a bit sleepy.”

Jiang Luo does not see anything, is Qin Fan not Chi You?

He sighed imperceptibly and stood up, “Take a rest, Mr. Qin, and wake up after a good night’s sleep, and everything will be fine.”

Qin Fan could not stand the strange smell and rushed into the bathroom to rinse his mouth, saying as he walked away, “Okay, you should go back and rest too, I’m sorry for your trouble today.”

The door sounded closed.

In the bathroom, Qin Fan lifts her face from the sink, her face moist and warm with a certain unholy sensuality.

A few seconds later, a line of bright red blood slid down the corner of his mouth.

He wiped away the blood and smeared the corners of his lips red, and his blood-stained lips slowly curled into a strange smile.

*

Jiang Luo returns to his room.

Throughout the afternoon, the rain outside became heavier and heavier, and Zhang Feng did not return to the hostel.

Jiang Luo has had a good night’s sleep and wakes up to go to the toilet. The layout of his room is the same as Qin Fan’s room next door, with a large seductive bath in the bathroom.

Jiang Luo had taken a bath at Qin Fan’s in the morning too quickly to enjoy it. He put hot water in the bath.

The dark-haired young man removes his shirt, revealing a beautiful spine with shoulder blades like butterflies fluttering. Jiang Luo places his hands on the edge of his trousers and is about to remove them when he suddenly lifts his eyes to look to the side.

A small window in the bathroom faces the darkness, and that voyeuristic feeling comes back as the rain pulls long trails across it.

Jiang Luo walks over and pulls the curtain closed with an expressionless face.

This feeling follows the other side like a shadow, hiding in an unknown corner. The unknown represents fear, wandering, and Jiang Luo finally knows why Chi You chose this as a gambling game.

Because the evil spirit is so clear, when he doesn’t appear, Jiang Luo is constantly on edge, constantly thinking about who he is and what he’s doing, constantly rendering him a powerful, terrifying enemy in the unknown, the mystery deepening in the imagination, and if Chi You is never found, then Jiang Luo will always be in this loop.

By now, at least, half of Jiang Luo’s mind is on who Chi You is.

Wouldn’t this be just what the evil spirits want?

Jiang Luo’s grinding teeth sounded as he forced himself to calm down. Soaking himself in the tub.

The water temperature is on the high side and very comfortable.

Half an hour later, Jiang Luo lazily opens his eyes and picks up his mobile phone, which he has set aside.

There is an unread message on the phone that was sent ten minutes ago.

[Tonight’s game is on.]

[My dear beloved, have you found out who I am?]

Jiang Luo looked at the time, it was only 9pm.

Last night the evil spirits came after midnight to haunt him. Last night the evil spirits came after midnight to disturb him, but today they came a full three hours earlier.

The excitement of the evil spirits was evident to anyone.

He didn’t bother with the text message, and after two minutes, the evil spirit dialed in to talk.

Jiang Luo also didn’t press connect, but as if Mr. Evil knew what he was thinking, the phone picked up on its own.

The voice on the other side was helpless, as if Jiang Luo had done something wrong by refusing the evil spirit’s call, “You seem a little perfunctory to me.”

“If you had eyes or a brain,” Jiang Luo’s voice also breathes languor as he casually fiddles with the splash, “you would know that this is not called some, but very much.”

The evil spirit seemed to be aggrieved and said, “Am I not the one you love?”

“According to you, I am also the one you love. You’ve had a crush on me for a long time, you’ve been courting me for a long time, you’re still unforgiving of me even after you’re dead, and you’re calling from the underworld,” Jiang Luo , “Your ‘love’ for me is unique enough.”

The evil spirit smothered a laugh that grew louder and louder, like a madman: “Don’t you like it?”

He expected the dark-haired youth to say he didn’t like it, but instead there was the lone sound of water on the other end of the line. The youth seemed to stand up from the water, which pattered and slid down his chest to the side of his legs, followed by the sound of bare feet walking on tiles.

The sound of clothes fondling is noisy, but so detailed that one wonders whether the purpose of the call is a death threat or …… an ear to spy a fragrant . A luscious dressing down.

Chi You’s mood, which had been pleasant, suddenly became somewhat subtle.

The sensation is like drifting into an ocean of fallen leaves, a mere weak leaf that has no effect on the sea. The bottom of the sea remains deep, thick and unpredictable.

But the evil spirit was a little distracted.

Every now and then his fingers tapped scatteredly on the table.

The evil spirit liked interesting things, and waiting for the dark-haired youth to get dressed was undoubtedly a tedious affair; he should have spoken up, given a friendly reminder, or been impatient and got straight to the point.

But the evil spirit did not make a sound at the moment for some reason.

Finally, the cacophony stops.

The dark-haired youth’s voice resumed.

He gave a soft laugh, “No, I enjoyed it.”